Joshua 24:25

 Joshua 24:25 

So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.

a. NASB 2020: So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made for them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.  [NASB20] New American Standard Bible. Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation; All Rights Reserved]

b. YLT: And Joshua maketh a covenant with the people on that day, and layeth on it a statute and an ordinance, in Shechem.  [The Young's Literal Translation was translated by Robert Young, who believed in a strictly literal translation of God's word. This version of the Bible is in the public domain.]

c. Classic Amplified: So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made statutes and ordinances for them at Shechem.  [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

d. Rubin Edition: The Early Prophets: Joshua & Judges: Joshua made a covenant with the people that day and he set down decrees and laws for them in Shechem  [THE ARTSCROLL SERIES ®️ /RUBIN EDITION THE PROPHETS: JOSHUA/ JUDGES ⓒ Copyright 2000 by MESORAH PUBLICATIONS, Ltd.]

e. ESV: So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and put in place statutes and rules for them at Shechem. [Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

1. So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.

a. [So] Joshua [Strong: 3091 Yᵉhôwshûwaʻ, yeh-ho-shoo'-ah; or יְהוֹשֻׁעַ Yᵉhôwshuʻa; from H3068 and H3467; Jehovah-saved; Jehoshua (i.e. Joshua), the Jewish leader:—Jehoshua, Jehoshuah, Joshua.]

b. made [Strong: 3772 kârath, kaw-rath'; a primitive root; to cut (off, down or asunder); by implication, to destroy or consume; specifically, to covenant (i.e. make an alliance or bargain, originally by cutting flesh and passing between the pieces):—be chewed, be con-(feder-) ate, covenant, cut (down, off), destroy, fail, feller, be freed, hew (down), make a league (covenant), × lose, perish, × utterly, × want.]

c. [a] covenant [Strong: 1285 bᵉrîyth, ber-eeth'; from H1262 (in the sense of cutting [like H1254]); a compact (because made by passing between pieces of flesh):—confederacy, (con-) feder(-ate), covenant, league.]

d. [with the] people [Strong: 5971 ʻam, am; from H6004; a people (as a congregated unit); specifically, a tribe (as those of Israel); hence (collectively) troops or attendants; figuratively, a flock:—folk, men, nation, people.]

e. that [Strong: 3117 hûwʼ, hoo; of which the feminine (beyond the Pentateuch) is הִיא hîyʼ; he a primitive word, the third person pronoun singular; he (she or it); only expressed when emphatic or without a verb; also (intensively) self, or (especially with the article) the same; sometimes (as demonstrative) this or that; occasionally (instead of copula) as or are:—he, as for her, him(-self), it, the same, she (herself), such, that (...it), these, they, this, those, which (is), who.]

f. day [Strong: 3117 yôwm, yome; from an unused root meaning to be hot; a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figurative (a space of time defined by an associated term), (often used adverb):—age, always, chronicals, continually(-ance), daily, ((birth-), each, to) day, (now a, two) days (agone), elder, × end, evening, (for) ever(-lasting, -more), × full, life, as (so) long as (... live), (even) now, old, outlived, perpetually, presently, remaineth, × required, season, × since, space, then, (process of) time, as at other times, in trouble, weather, (as) when, (a, the, within a) while (that), × whole ( age), (full) year(-ly), younger.]

g. [and] set [them] [Strong: 7760 sûwm, soom; or שִׂים sîym; a primitive root; to put (used in a great variety of applications, literal, figurative, inferentially, and elliptically):—× any wise, appoint, bring, call (a name), care, cast in, change, charge, commit, consider, convey, determine, disguise, dispose, do, get, give, heap up, hold, impute, lay (down, up), leave, look, make (out), mark, name, × on, ordain, order, paint, place, preserve, purpose, put (on), regard, rehearse, reward, (cause to) set (on, up), shew, stedfastly, take, × tell, tread down, (over-)turn, × wholly, work.]

h. [a] statute [Strong: 2706 chôq, khoke; from H2710; an enactment; hence, an appointment (of time, space, quantity, labor or usage):—appointed, bound, commandment, convenient, custom, decree(-d), due, law, measure, × necessary, ordinance(-nary), portion, set time, statute, task.]

i. [and an] ordinance [Strong: 4941 mishpâṭ, mish-pawt'; from H8199; properly, a verdict (favorable or unfavorable) pronounced judicially, especially a sentence or formal decree (human or (participant's) divine law, individual or collective), including the act, the place, the suit, the crime, and the penalty; abstractly, justice, including a participant's right or privilege (statutory or customary), or even a style:— adversary, ceremony, charge, × crime, custom, desert, determination, discretion, disposing, due, fashion, form, to be judged, judgment, just(-ice, -ly), (manner of) law(-ful), manner, measure, (due) order, ordinance, right, sentence, usest, × worthy, wrong.]

j. [at] Shechem [Strong: 4941 mishpâṭ, mish-pawt'; from H8199; properly, a verdict (favorable or unfavorable) pronounced judicially, especially a sentence or formal decree (human or (participant's) divine law, individual or collective), including the act, the place, the suit, the crime, and the penalty; abstractly, justice, including a participant's right or privilege (statutory or customary), or even a style:— adversary, ceremony, charge, × crime, custom, desert, determination, discretion, disposing, due, fashion, form, to be judged, judgment, just(-ice, -ly), (manner of) law(-ful), manner, measure, (due) order, ordinance, right, sentence, usest, × worthy, wrong.]

1). Have archaeologists discovered Joshua’s Massabah or standing stone?

written by Dean Smith 9/20/2023 Joshua’s massabah which was set up at Shechem.

Credit: Daniel Ventura, Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Archaeologists working at the site of the ancient city of Shechem believe they have discovered the large stone or Massabah that Joshua ordered to be set up as part of Israel’s covenant to Jehovah: Joshua 24:25 So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made for them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem. 26 And Joshua wrote these words in the Book of the Law of God; and he took a large stone and set it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary of the Lord.” (Joshua 24:25-26 NASV). As noted in this passage, the stone was set up under an oak, near the “sanctuary of the Lord.” During their work at Shechem, archaeologists found a large limestone rock located in the courtyard of an ancient temple, the Temple of Baal-berith, which is mentioned in Judges 9:4, 46. The temple was 86 feet (ca. 26 m) long and 70 feet (ca. 21 m) wide and its foundation wall was 17 feet (ca. 5 m) thick. It also had two large towers at its entrance. The massive stone, which is now broken, was thought to have stood nearly 6.6 feet (ca. 2 m) tall and was discovered in the courtyard in front of the entrance to the temple. It is believed that this temple was probably taken over by Israel when they conquered the Promised Land and turned it into a “Sanctuary of the Lord.” This is probably the very stone that Joshua ordered to be set up at the site. It would have been the same stone or pillar where Abimelech was crowned king mentioned in Judges 9:6. We are also told that Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, went to Shechem to be anointed king on his father’s death (1 Kings 12:1). Though not specifically mentioned, it may have been done by this stone.